Which one would you choose? The old grand daddy Corolla is boring but darn solid for a long lasting driving relationship.
You thinking of getting one of 'em? What are you basing the decision on? Looks, gas consumption, features, reliability, maintenance, resale value...?
Pete, you are caught in the dilemma of boring vs boring. Expand your horizons: http://www.teslamotors.com/roadster (the 'very orange' would look great on ya!)
totally agree. we will be able to spot him from miles away when he gets lost or got stuck because the battery went flat.
I'm not sure of the others but for you, I would rule out the Corolla due to headroom. I test drove one of these while helping someone choose between that and the current Matrix. I found the ceiling uncomfortably close to my head. The guy I was helping with is slightly taller than I and felt the same. You are taller. They lowered the roofline and raised the sides compared to a couple of generations ago. The interior fit and finish, quality of materials seems to have decreased as well. You will probably notice this from the car I last saw you driving. If you are looking for economy, reliability and sportiness, have you considered a CBR-250 or EX250? They also have excellent headroom and visibility.
Get a BMW. Girls love high end cars. And if you use your car for work...it says "I'm succesful". My bro leased a BMW. Got a girl (now wife) and moved up the company food chain. Now his car is a Toyota RAV4.
@ph_leung, I am basing my purchasing decision on uber reliability and gas consumption. Suspension and brakes come next .
@CC, Bimmers and Euro cars in general are very dynamic and nice to drive but horrible when it goes into the shop. For that amount of money, I would expect reliability to be top notch.
_________________________________ To be serious though, Hyundai used to have the worst reputation, but now the Elantra is about the best seller in Canada; probably b/c it costs less than 'Hondoyota'. Doesn't look too bad either.
What about hybird cars? Toyata Prius, Honda insight, or a Smartcar? They're great on gas. Pretty reliable. Not sure abot maintenance though. But if your in Calgary, probably best to get the Hyundai. Good enough to get you around. Make sure you get the undercoating. Cuz winter is a killer on your car (ie. Salt) and some snow tires too.
I drive an Elantra Touring (wagon) with 40K miles now. Overall, it's comfortable and roomy, especially with the large cargo, which is the main reason I choose the wagon over the sedan. The draw back at the moment is, some of the features are not nicely polished, which may not be "high class" if pay special attention. When I was doing the car shopping (back in 2009), I remember Elantra sedan was cheaper (by 10% or so), while has more bells and whistles than the wagon, and the seat was more comfortable. Also, the mileage was about 15% higher than the wagon. The only draw back is the trunk is kinda small. Toyota was a big let down at that moment, and the seat was way too hard.
Don't overlook the Mazda 3 hatchback or sedan. It has practically replaced the Civic for pretty reliable and fun driving.
Or a Lancer Sportback [in "octane blue pearl"] ... or ... Then again, not quite the same situation: buy vs lease decision.
Elantra is a solid choice in any case /i30 over here [sedan version non-existant ] ... Been trying to grab a few head-to-head tests but coming along very slowly ...
Since you are in North America, Why not give Ford a try? The new Ford Focus or Fiesta are pretty good too. Or even the Ford Escape, the turbo charged engine is really impressive! Gas consumption is pretty good too.
Check these out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jtrll67fTk&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDlupGykPlQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2bfXmdn3-8
Granted Hyundai (and KIA, Hyundai partly owned it too) has catchy design, cost slightly less than Honda/Toyota, and offers more features. Heard that BMW designer went over to Hyundai and revamped Hyundai car design. Realibility has improved since the days of the Pony. Still, Hyundai lacks the long realibility history and presently, resale is not as good compare to Toyota or Honda. I would like to see the 10 years realibility history of Hyundai first, after all Corolla and Civic have been around for decades and are the reliability measuring benchmarks for small cars. I think Corolla is the all time leader in quantity produced (past Beetle). My 2010 Corolla has 105K km (less than 3 years) and so far, ain't give me any problem and dependable (knock on wood) and quiet compare to Civic. We have driven Honda (3 Accords and 1 CRV) and 3 Toyota (Camry, Corolla and Tercel) and before that we made rookie mistake after graduation and bought North American vehicles and paid a price when it comes to maintenance and resale (actually no resale value, practically gave it away and actually thanked the Lord that there is someone that would even take it). I would agree Toyota are bland and boring, even Lexus included, when compared to Honda and Acura with IVTEC engine and double wishbone which are more sleek in design, but Hyundai is fast catching up with Veloster, Elantra, Sonata, Genesis, AQUUS, etc and price right, target the younger age group. Still, we stay with Toyota for peace of mind, proven reliability and service cost which is more reasonable than Honda. As long as I have not retired yet, I would buy another Corolla for work and maybe a Lexus ES350 or GS400 when I retire. A word of advice: It takes you an hour or so to close out a car sale but years to deal with the service department. I don't know much about Hyundai service but both Toyota and Honda dealerships that we dealt with over a 20+ years relationship are excellent. Do not overlook service department when you buy cars, buy the wrong cars and you cry all the way to the bank getting screwed by the service staff time and time again. My Accords are: 1987 EXR had no problem for 250K km before I said sayonara, 1992 EXR-SE 368K km and cost me only a $220 radiator to fix and 2002 SE 292K km and I gave it to my son and he clocked it 495K km before he sold it for $500 and bought a new 2012 RAV4 last month, CRV with 225K (zero problem) before we sold it last year. We are spoiled by Honda and based on these records, what can I say about Honda? All the positives, highly recommended I would give my 2010 Corolla to my daughter (she is using it now) next year when she graduate and she can use it for a year and get whatever she wants next. I would use the Camry (very reluctantly) for work and get my wifey a Highlander Sport V6 (that is what she wants) next year. When it comes to realibility, I would stay with what I know, trust and feel comfortable in, and Toyota is our choice, Honda a very close second. European cars, I admire but stay away, terrified of the negative news we heard from friends when it comes to service cost. Hyundai, I would wait for a few more years to check out for realibility (I like the Genesis V6 sedan or AQUUS though). So, if you are a boring chap like me but concern about maintenance cost, realibility and resale, then go for Toyota, after all, Toyota (I think) is back to world No. 1 now and announced record profit last year, with so many people buying Toyota, that cannot be wrong. Or if you want to be the standout chap to own car that not many people buy, try a Range Rover and I guarantee you will repent to Jesus, confess your sin and ask for the Lord's forgiveness that you will never do it again. I know I sin long time ago when we bought a Chrysler Voyager, Olds Omega and Chevy Chevette....arr, that was a long story, I sin big time:crying:. I have not tried Ford, so dunno muchy. Ford just announced a huge recall with her just released brand new Escape. Ford used to have an old advertisement that went 'Have you driven a Ford lately", well, who wants to?
